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ANGELS
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rendering the homage to verbally inspired Scripture that they imagine. It does not say all things, but THE all things,
and the insertion of the article at once defines and narrows the expression. The all things that are to be reconciled
are described, they are in the main creatures of which we know practically nothing. Believers are now reconciled,
but they are not included in the all things of the verse under notice.
All things universally will be placed in subjection beneath the Lord, either beneath His feet or under Him as
Head, the narrower expression ta panta is the term used by God when speaking of the reconciliation of all things.
Let us keep close to the words of the Word. May grace be given to both reader and writer to prove all things and to
hold fast that which is good (see RECONCILIATION4 and SEED4).
ANGELS, Greek aggelos. (The double `g' being pronounced `ng'). This word is allied with evangel and means
primarily a messenger; then in Scripture those heavenly ministering spirits known to us as `angels'. The word
occurs 188 times in the Greek New Testament and is translated `angel' 181 times and `messenger' seven times. The
word is of dispensational importance by reason of its close connection with the fortunes of Israel, and of its non-
association with any calling that is purely Gentile, such as the dispensation of the Mystery.
The word aggelos occurs in Hebrews thirteen times. In the first chapter Christ is exalted to the right hand of the
Majesty on high being made `so much better than the angels' (Heb. 1:4).
`Unto which of the angels said He at any time, Thou art My Son...' (1:5).
`Let all the angels of God worship Him' (1:6).
`Who maketh His angels spirits' (1:7).
`To which of the angels said He at any time, Sit on My right hand' (1:13).
In the second chapter angels are associated with the giving of the Law, and we are told that the age to come has
not been put into subjection to angels. Adam, and Christ by the testimony of the prophetic Psalm 8, are seen `for a
little' lower than the angels and at the Incarnation Christ `took not on Him the nature of angels' (Heb. 2:2,5,7,9,16).
In Hebrews 12:22 the heavenly Jerusalem is associated with `an innumerable company of angels', and the
believer is reminded that in Old Testament times the ministry of angels was no uncommon experience (Heb. 13:2).
When writing to the Romans, Paul mentions angels, together with `principalities' (Rom. 8:38) and asked the
Corinthians: `Know ye not that the saints shall judge angels' (1 Cor. 6:3), but from the dispensational point of view
it must be observed that angelic ministry among men, or the presence of angels at the exaltation of Christ, is entirely
omitted in Ephesians. There we read that when Christ was raised from the dead He was seated at the right hand of
God `in the heavenly places far above all principality and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is
named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come' (Eph. 1:20,21). These `principalities' are
mentioned again in Ephesians 3:10 and in 6:12, each in connection with `heavenly places'. Of these `principalities'
the Epistle to the Hebrews knows nothing.
Angels have special reference in Scripture to the people of Israel, and they are not mentioned in the Old
Testament until after the call of Abraham and the birth of Ishmael (Gen. 16:7). Angelic ministry is associated with
the destruction of Sodom, the deliverance of Lot, the birth of Isaac, and the blessing of Jacob in the book of Genesis.
In the book of Exodus the angel of the Lord is intimately associated with the deliverance of Israel from Egypt and
with their guidance through the wilderness and so, throughout the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms, the whole
course of Israel's history is accompanied by angelic ministry. Nor does it cease with Malachi; it is prominent in the
Gospels, being associated with the Birth, the Sufferings, the Resurrection, and the Second Coming of Christ. It is
prominent in the Acts from chapter 1 to 12, but after Acts 13, there is but one reference to angelic ministry, namely
at Acts 27:23. This isolated reference must be placed over against seventeen references that occur in the first twelve
chapters. In the Prison ministry of Paul, that is in the five `Prison Epistles' angels are mentioned but once and then
only to be set aside in the passage that condemned the `worshipping of angels' (Col. 2:18). In 1 Timothy 3:16
angels are mentioned in connection with the mystery of godliness and in the charge given to Timothy (1 Tim. 5:21).
We have already drawn attention to the fact that the word `angel' occurs thirteen times in the epistle to the Hebrews.